I have had the privilege of working with Police Leaders and their services over the past almost 7 years. I have worked in small services and am currently completing my 3rd year in a large, urban police service. This year during National Police Week, I’m reflecting on my experiences with these amazing teams.
As Police work evolves, so does the coaching work I do with them. I work with Chiefs and their teams, with Senior Leaders, Middle leaders – who we call Influential Leaders. We also have a whole branch of work focused on Women in Leadership in Policing.
We use an amazing tool to build awareness, called Type Coach Verifier. It is an adaptive leadership and communication tool, which builds awareness for both individuals and teams.
We learn skills and strategies to increase our leadership through check-ins, levels of listening, effective questioning, assumptions and beliefs, and positioning ourselves to more ‘coach-like’ in service of creating a more ‘coach-like culture.
One of my favourite ways of learning together are through our Leaders Coaching Circles. Leaders engage in groups of 3 – 4 to enact the skills they have learned. They coach one another on real leadership challenges. In these groups I see leaders showing vulnerability as they try new ways of ‘being’. I see the barriers come down between sworn and civilian members, and various ranks as they realize that the human challenges of leading are not limited to these categories! Some groups, upon completion of the program, agree to keep meeting so that they can continue to work through challenges together.
What I love most about working in policing is the resilience and amazing quality of leadership I see.
These are complex times, and many leaders step into this space, open and willing to consider that what got them where they are, no longer serves them or their people fully.
As one client exclaimed in a 1:1 coaching session,
“My cop brain no longer works at this level of leadership, I need to engage my leader brain!”.
The willingness of leaders to do this work, hard, rewarding, and essential work never ceases to inspire me!
Here are some kind words from some of the leaders I have worked with recently in policing:
Women in Leadership: Tesstimonials
Peel Regional Police: Testimonials